Railroad-tie plate



UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

ALEXANDER B. B.- HARRIS, OF BRISTOL, TENNESSEE.

RAI LROAD-TIE PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,348, dated March 17, 1896.

l Application filed May l0, 1895. Serial No. 548,840. (No modell) T0 all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER B. B. HAR- Ris, residing at Bristol, in the county of Sullivan and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad Tie Plates, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a railroad-tie plate or plate which is designed to rest upon the cross-ties and form a base to receive the rail which is spiked to the tie through holes in the plate. Such plates are designed to prevent the wear of the tie beneath the rail from the combined influences of the pounding, and thrust of the rail under the action of passing trains and the penetration of water and dampness,which soon soften and rot the wood, so as to cause the wear to proceed very rapidly. My invention is designed to provide a plate which shall overcome these difficulties and which shall, when the spikes are driven., form a solid, firm and secure anchorage and bearing that positively holds the rail against rising or swinging laterally, as hereinafter more fully described.

Figure l is a vertical section taken through the tie-plate, tie, and rail longitudinally to the tie before the spike is driven through. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same parts after the spike is driven. Fig. 2"L is a section through line 2 2, Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same parts, and Fig. a is a plan View of the under side of the plate.

In the drawings, A represents the tie-plate, B the rail, and O the wooden cross-tie.

My improved tie-plate has upon its lower side around each spike-hole a split thimble a, forming four (more or less) tapering tongues, which converge inwardly and downwardly, so as to form a conical exterior and also a conical central hole. This thimble with convergent tongues may be cast or otherwise formed on the bottom side of the plate, and the tongues may be resilient or elastic or not, as may be preferred. Ordinarily it has not been found necessary to construct them as springs. The holes through them may be either round or square, according to the crosssection of the spikes used. At the lower end of these tongues are formed outwardly-projecting toes or flanges b, which are straight or horizontal on their bottom surfaces and tapered or inclined on their upper surfaces.

In applying these tie-plates the cross-'ties are bored with holes corresponding to the positions of the spike-holes and of a size large enough to receive the thimbles a and their toes or flanges Z) when in their contracted or convergent position, as shown in Fig. l. Then when the plate is seated on the top of the tie with the thimbles in the bored holes the spike isdriven down through the hole in the plate and thimble, and is made to simultaneously fasten the rail to the plate and the plate to the tie', as shown in Fig. 2. Then the spike descends through the tapering hole through the thimble, said spike forces outwardly the tongues until they fit against the sides of the holes and their toes b are deeply embedded in the wood of the tie, making a solid and secure anchorage of the tie-plate to the tie. As the toes Z2 are swaged outwardly by the spike, their inclined upper sides draw downwardly on the tie-plate and cause it to become finally attached in a position hard down upon the subjacent tie. VWith this form of tie-plate it will be seen that it can never rise from the tie, and the large bearing and immovable anchorage which the thimble affords enables it to successfully resist lateral thrust of the.

car-wheel and prevents all spreading of the rails. The tight joint which the tie-plate makes with the tie effectually prevents the entrance of water, and when necessary or desirable I propose beforedriving the spike to iill the bored hole with any antiseptic or woodpreserving liquidsuch as pitch, tar, &c.- which after the spike is driven is forced into the pores of the wood and into all crevices about the thimble and between its tongues, so as to iill the cavities flush and hermetically seal the hole against all decay or softening of the wood around the thimble. p

The under side of plate A is beveled in opposite direction from the middle, as seen in Figs. 2fL and 4, and the tie is correspondingly faced with a slight fall to secure drainage in the joint between the plate and tie.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A railroad-tie plate consisting of a flat IOO body portion having spike-holes through it and with` tongues or split extension on its under side immediately adjacent to the spikeholes, said tongues having outwardly-projecting toes or iianges and formed in one piece with the flat body portion and adapted to be expanded or forced outwardly and embedded in the tie by the thrust of the spike in being driven substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A railroad-tie plate consisting of a flat body portion having a double inclined lower side falling each Way from the middle line and provided with spike-holes through it with tongues or split extensions on its under side immediately adjacent to the spike-holes and formed in one piece with the fiat body portion, said tongues or extension having outwardly-projecting toes or flanges substantially as and for the purpose described.

A railroad-tie plate consisting of a Ilat body portion provided with spike holes through it With tongues or split extensions on its under side made in one piece with the lat body portion, said tongues or extensions having outwardly-projecting toes or flanges beveled or inclined upon their upper sides and horizontal on their lower edges so as to draiv the plate down to a tight bearing When the tongues are expanded in the Wood sub- 3o stantially as and for the purpose described.

ALEXANDER B. l. HARRIS.

lVitnesscs:

Jos. W. PAnnisi-I, C. L. HUNTING. 

